Samsung’s 2026 profits are an insult to consumers’ intelligence
Samsung is poised to have a record year financially. Kim Yong-kwan, president of the group’s semiconductor division (Device Solutions), stated during an internal meeting held on July 3 that his division’s operating profit this year would meet market expectations. Yet those expectations are sky-high: analysts are forecasting annual operating profit of around 300,000 billion won—approximately $200 billion—an amount that, on its own, would exceed Samsung’s total cumulative profits since it entered the chip industry forty years ago.
A 2026 profit exceeding the total profits of the past 40 years.
Based on an analysis of the latest official data, according to estimates reported by Reuters and Boursorama, the South Korean giant is expected to announce, for the second quarter of 2026, an operating profit of nearly 86,000 billion won, or approximately $56.35 billion. This figure would represent an 18-fold increase year-over-year, compared to the 4,700 billion won recorded a year earlier. Most importantly, this would mark Samsung’s third consecutive quarter of record operating profit. The driving force behind this surge is clear: memory.
Supply constraints have allowed Samsung to raise its prices for standard DRAM by 90% in the first quarter, then by 50% to 60% in the second, with a further increase of about 20% announced for the third quarter. Citi Research also noted a 44% increase in average selling prices for DRAM and a 53% increase for NAND over the course of a quarter, while the contract price for a 12 GB LPDDR5X module climbed to $145, up from about $120 at the start of the year, having tripled since the first quarter of 2025. Of course, Samsung isn’t the only one benefiting from this situation. SK Hynix and Micron saw strong growth in 2026, while the combined market capitalization of these three companies is reported to have exceeded $1,000 billion.
RAM shortage or crisis profiteers?
As has been the case for several months now, some observers are warning of a bubble and the need to keep a cool head amid the market’s frenzy. For Samsung and the others alike, this exceptional profitability remains heavily dependent on a single driver: demand linked to artificial intelligence. And at some point, these investments will have to yield results. Any slowdown in spending by the cloud giants could quickly reshuffle the deck.
But it’s not just AI—users of PCs, smartphones, game consoles, and more have been held hostage for months.
Finally, we all tend to repeat the term “shortage” used by the RAM cartel. But it’s clear that RAM remains available—at exorbitant prices, but available nonetheless. So we’re clearly dealing with what looks like crisis profiteering, where manufacturers have decided to adopt a strategy that allows them to take advantage of their near-monopoly to drive prices sky-high (and, consequently, their profit margins).
